Washington, D.C. — The scale of human rights abuses and the displacement of people in Somalia has made it among the world's worst situations of its kind, a rights expert has told a meeting in Washington, D.C.
Leslie Lefkow, who co-authored the Human Rights Watch report on Somalia, "Civilians Under Siege in Mogadishu" was speaking at a panel discussion Wednesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Focusing on abuses committed by all parties, Lefkow said: "I think what we have seen in Mogadishu over the last six to eight months, there is really little comparison when you look around the world in terms of the gravity of the crimes and the scale of displacement."
Lefkow highlighted the Ethiopian military's indiscriminate shelling of Mogadishu neighborhoods in March and April during an attempt to eliminate the insurgency.
The meeting also heard that the United States is increasingly disturbed with the currently escalating violence in Somalia, especially continued attacks on respected and moderate political leaders and journalists.
Jim Swan, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said that "while the leadership of the Transitional Federal Government has made its share of mistakes, the United States is most concerned with the rise of violent extremism."
Ken Menkhaus, a professor of political science at Davidson College, echoed Swan's concerns. Political assassination is being seen more and more by both the Transitional Federal Government and the insurgency as an effective political tool, he said. Seven journalists have been killed in Somalia this year, including three in August alone.
"One of the great tragedies in Somalia right now is that a very promising group of civil society operatives and other Somalis of goodwill who do try to make the right thing happen are being threatened, they are leaving the country, and they are afraid to talk," Menkhaus said.
Swan said the recently-concluded National Reconciliation Conference did not meet all of the goals the U.S. had for the meeting. The U.S. gave $1.25 million in support of the conference.
"Unfortunately, due to the lack of participation from some key opposition figures, despite repeated invitations from the congress managers and encouragement from the international community, the congress has not yet fully achieved its objectives," Swan said.
Swan, however, said that the conference is ready to reconvene if opposition figures are willing to participate.
Menkhaus, who spent the recent months in the region, was pessimistic about the political situation, stating that it is the worst he has seen 14 years. He was also frustrated at the limited representation at the reconciliation conference:
"When you have got two parties in conflict and you are going to hold a conference to bring peace to end the conflict, it does improve your odds a great deal if you actually bring representatives from the two sides that are fighting," he said.
Menkhaus emphasized that the conflict in Somalia is closely related to the the broader Ethiopian-Eritrean regional conflict. Ethiopia invaded Somalia in December 2006 and its continued presence is controversial.
Swan said the United States would like the Ethiopian military to leave eventually because "a Ethiopian military presence is not a long-term solution." He added that the U.S. has seen numerous reports showing that Eritrea is behind arms shipments to Somalia. Last month, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer hinted that the U.S. might consider designating Eritrea as a state sponsor of terrorism.
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Menkhaus warned that alienating players in the Somali conflict that are against Ethiopia, such as Eritrea, could make the conflict worse.
The fighting has resulted in a humanitarian crisis that Menkhaus described as "catastrophic." He said child malnutrition in the Shabelle region of southern Somalia is as high as 25 percent, and hundreds of thousands of people have fled Mogadishu since the fighting started. Geoff Loane of the International Committee of the Red Cross said that several thousand wounded have been treated.
Swan said that the U.S. is still committed to Somalia and working toward building an inclusive government. "There remains an opportunity to rebuild Somalia and to restore effective governance," he added.
But Menkhaus painted a very bleak picture. Although he said United States policy goals in Somalia were "entirely valid," he warned that "there is no one to root for, really - except for people caught in the middle, and they are all being killed."
